Of Nerves and Anniversaries
by MetalPrincess13
Summary: It's Ash and Gary's anniversary and Gary can't wait to give Ash his present. There's just one problem. Palletshipping one-shot.


**Of Nerves and Anniversaries**

The Palletshipping Discord came up with the idea of a weekly prompt, so I decided to try to do a one-shot for as many weeks as possible this year.

Here's week two!

 _Canon-verse. Ash and Gary are in a secret relationship. Gary decides to surprise Ash for their anniversary and give him a lovely present._

… … ...

Gary took a deep, cleansing breath and shook some of the tension out of his hands. He could do this. He really could. It wasn't that big a deal.

Well... The part he was going to do _tonight_ wasn't a big deal.

It was the _implication_ of what was to come that had him on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

One relatively simple action required a subsequent action. A much bigger one. A seriously major one.

He released another deep breath in a frustrated huff and slumped against the mudroom wall. A small, neatly wrapped box sat innocently on the narrow table near his front door. Ash's anniversary present.

It wasn't anything fancy. He wasn't proposing.

It was a keychain. A nice one made from the top half of an old pokeball. Not _the_ pokeball; just an extra one he'd found with his old training supplies.

Oh yeah. _And_ it had the key to Gary's house on the key ring.

The key to Gary's _tiny_ _one-bedroom cottage_ in Pallet.

That wasn't the problem. Ash was already there so often that Gary wasn't the least bit worried about _that_. Plus they'd been dating for a year so the whole _sharing the bed_ thing didn't worry him either.

The problem was... no one knew they were dating. Hell, the most important person in his life – his grandfather – didn't even know Gary was gay.

Moving in together meant coming out of the closet. And that was the thing that had Gary's stomach in knots.

He had always _meant_ to tell his grandfather. It just... never seemed to be the right time. Or the words just wouldn't come out.

There had been opportunities, plenty of them over the course of his twenty-eight years of life. And he already knew that the elder professor wouldn't have an adverse reaction to his coming out. One of the elder professor's closest colleagues was Professor Ivy and she was as queer as they came.

It was just... How did you even start that conversation?

All of his other _outings_ had been rather casual; really more of a verbal confirmation about something he had never bothered to hide.

But the professor had never seen his grandson flirting unashamedly with the twink bartenders in Viridian City bars, or heard him comment on making out, hooking up, or otherwise _being gay_ with said bartender the next morning at brunch.

Coming out, in the cases of his friends, hadn't been necessary.

He behaved himself around his grandfather. It wasn't that he hid being gay. It was just that he didn't exactly go out partying with his grandfather the way he did with friends. Or talk about his sex life with him.

But, he didn't have to come out tonight, so that particular issue could wait.

Gary groaned and pushed away from the wall to pick up the box. He could have tea with his grandfather later that week and tell him then.

For now, he had to meet Ash. They were going to a natural history museum in Saffron city. And spending the night in a nice hotel. All as Ash's anniversary present to him. What happened in that hotel room would be part of Gary's present to Ash, but that was a whole other thing.

He picked up his keys and opened the door before turning to retrieve his overnight bag from the bench. When he turned back he found a familiar figure standing on the porch, grinning lazily as he leaned against the railing.

"Ash!" Gary yelped, nearly dropping the bag in shock.

His boyfriend laughed and reached out to take the bag from him. "Thought I'd surprise you."

"Well, you fucking succeeded," Gary griped. He pulled the door shut behind him and followed Ash down the steps. "Couldn't you have knocked?"

"That would have ruined the surprise," Ash replied, grinning. He stopped at the trunk of Gary's car and waited for him to press the button on the remote.

Gary shook his head. That was so _Ash_. He opened the door and slid into the driver's seat before looking down at the box he still held. He couldn't help but smile as he turned it in his hands.

Ash slammed the trunk shut and slid into his own seat after a moment. Noticing the smile, he leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Gary's mouth.

"Is that for me?" He asked curiously.

Gary nodded, still smiling as he looked up at Ash. He was going to wait until dinner... but this was fine too.

"Yeah, it is," he confirmed and passed it over.

Ash turned it in his hands and smiled at the wrapping paper. It was fancy paper. High quality parchment with a gold foil lightning bolt print.

"Can I open it now or do I have to wait?"

Gary laughed. The trainer sounded so eager that Gary just couldn't help but be amused.

This was why he loved Ash.

He nodded. "Go ahead."

He watched as Ash carefully pulled off the wrapping paper and dropped it to the floor. The box opened and Gary saw a brief puzzled look cross Ash's face.

"This isn't...?"

"No," Gary confirmed. "But that _is_ the key to my house."

Ash looked up, peering at Gary. Chocolate eyes flickered back to the cottage tucked into the trees on a Pallet hillside before fixing on the researcher once more.

Another smile curved Ash's lips. "You mean, me move in with you?"

Gary nodded.

"That means... everyone's gonna find out about us."

"Yes." Gary nodded again.

"Everyone, including your grandfather," Ash added pointedly.

"I'm going to tell him next time I see him," Gary confirmed. He took a deep breath and met Ash's eyes. "So... What do you say, Ashy-boy? Wanna move in with me?"

Ash picked up the keychain and grinned. "We'll tell Mom when we get back tomorrow. When you help me pack up."

"Who said anything about me helping you move?" Gary teased, though he grinned at Ash's affirmative response.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "Just figured it was part of the deal," he said breezily. A mischievous grin slowly crossed his face. "You know, that museum is open late... What do you say I use this key and we go celebrate?"

Gary considered it for a moment, his hand moving to rest on the door handle for a moment. Then he shot Ash a wink. "Nah," he replied. A mischievous grin of his own spread across his face as he started the car and backed out of the driveway.

The celebration could wait. Anticipation would only make the celebration that much better.

Besides. What could be more fun than hanging it over Ash's head all day?


End file.
